The other way around
by moonswirl
Summary: This is based on a challenge I found (and responded to obviously). Challenge was to make the aliens the humans and the humans the aliens... Just read, you'll understand quickly... Chapter 3, Monsters, coming soon...
1. Pilot

THE OTHER WAY AROUND  
  
  
Note: Basis for the dialogue and characters are not my own. The characters of Roswell and the dialogue for the episodes 'Pilot' and 'The morning after' all belong to Jason Katims. (right?)  
  
Roswell, New Mexico  
  
He sat at his desk, typing an entry to his 'journal'.  
  
'September 23rd, journal entry one. I'm Max Parker and five days ago I died. After that, things got really weird...'  
  
Five days before, Crashdown Café  
  
"Okay, I have got one Sigourney Weaver, that's for you. And one Will Smith. Can I get you guys anything else? Green Martian Shake? Blood of Alien smoothie?" he asked the man and woman at the table.  
  
"No, thanks. We're good," said the man.  
  
Max had to be careful not to start laughing. He managed to ask, "Are you guys here for the crash festival?"  
  
The woman smiled and replied, "Yeah, can't wait." Then, seriously, "So... does your family come from Roswell?" The couple were looking at him expectantly.  
  
"Just four generations," he admitted, knowing what they'd ask next.  
  
Sure enough... "Uh, well, does anyone in your family have stories about the UFO crash?" asked the man.  
  
Max pretended to look around, then bent forward and in hushed tones, "Well, I guess it would be okay to show you guys this..." He reached in his backpocket and showed them an old wrinkled black and white picture. They were mesmerized by it and didn't see Max give a grin to his best friend, Michael DeLuca as he passed by the table.  
  
Michael walked up to a table where two men sat, in the middle of a heated discussion. "Refill?" he asked, a pot of coffee in his hand.  
  
"No, get outta here," said one of them, barely looking to him. Michael walked off and ignored them.  
  
Back at the table, Max had the couple on his every word. "My grandmother took this picture at the crash sight RIGHT before the government cleaned it up."  
  
"Do people know about this photograph?" asked the woman.  
  
"Well, I know about it, and now you know about it," said Max acting innocent. The couple expressed their amazement with a round of "whoa!" and "wow!" Still playing them, Max near-whispered, "I'm gonna be right back, don't show that to anyone."  
  
The man shook his head, and the woman said "no" as he left them the picture and walked off with Michael to behind the counter.  
  
"You are so mean. Oh, and Liz Evans is checking you out again."  
  
"No way," said Max, looking out to the booth where Liz and her best friend Maria Guerin sat eating, "Michael, that is all in your imagination." He noticed that Liz, did look up to him shortly and looked back down again right after. Max turned back to Michael. "Liz Evans? Me? No... it's not..."  
  
"With that face! Come on, Max," said Michael in a somewhat teasing tone.  
  
"Michael... Even if she was, I'm going out with Tess. I mean, she's steady and loyal, and she appreciates me."  
  
"Sounds like you're describing a poodle," said Michael as he went back around the counter.  
  
Suddenly, they heard the two men's argument's getting louder. "... you ask me to give you another day? You're running out of time," said one of them. He pushed aside the dishes and they shattered on the ground.  
  
"Max!" yelled Michael to his friend.  
  
"I want the money today. NOT tomorrow!" continued the man. The second one pulled out a gun and they began to grab at each other, trying to get control of the gun. Around them, everyone dropped to the floor, except for Max, who seemed paralyzed somehow.  
  
And then the gun went off. One shot. Max fell to the ground behind the counter. The two men just got up and ran, knowing it wouldn't be wise to stick around.  
  
"Max..." called Michael as he began to get up.  
  
From her booth, Liz heard him and looked to find Max lying on the floor. She got up and started to walk to him, to try to help him. Knowing what she was planning to do, Maria stood in her way. "What are you doing? Let go of me," said Liz.  
  
"Liz, what are you gonna do?" asked Maria, trying to reason with her friend. Liz went past him, brushing past Michael.  
  
"Call an ambulance," she ordered him. He was so distraught he just went and did it. Liz crouched down and tore open his shirt. Blood was gushing from the wound fast. "Uh... it's gonna be okay," she assured him. He was weak and she wasn't sure he'd heard her.  
  
"Oh my god!" said the woman Max had served as she tried to see.  
  
"Hey! Get back!" said Maria, making sure no one saw what was about to happen.  
  
"Max, MAX! You have to look at me," said Liz, trying to get him to cooperate. He managed to look back to her, his eyes barely open, "You have to look at me."  
  
Liz placed her hand over the wound and concentrated while trying to make the connection with him. Finally, she was in. She could see images... from his childhood... She saw him with Michael at school, on the playground, wearing a shirt with a big dog on it at some point. She saw herself and her brother, Alex, getting off the schoolbus. The force of the vision was making her a bit dizzy. Eventually she pulled back, breaking the connection. The wound was gone.  
  
"You're all right now. You're all right," she whispered near him. He was still a bit disoriented.  
  
They heard the sound of the ambulance and Maria yelled, "Keys! Now!" Liz threw her the keys to her Jeep and Maria ran out. She looked around for something to cover the remaining blood on Max. She saw a bottle of ketchup and broke the end, spilling the contents on him.  
  
"You broke a bottle when you fell, spilled ketchup on yourself. Don't say anything please," she whispered again before getting up and heading out the door, joining Maria in the car as they sped away from the restaurant.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked Michael, going up to his friend, who'd gotten to his feet by then. Max just looked out to see Liz hurrying away, her presence and what she'd done leaving him speechless.  
  
*  
  
Jeff Parker entered the Crashdown, frantically looking for his son. Finally he saw him sitting with paramedics around him.  
  
"Max. Oh my God!" he said, seeing what appeared like blood on his shirt.  
  
"No, dad, dad look, look at this. See, I'm fine, I-I just spilled ketchup, I'm really, I'm okay."  
  
"Are you sure?" he asked unsure.  
  
"Yeah," Max assured, although he wasn't even sure what had happened himself.  
  
Somewhere else in the restaurant, a deputy was interrogating Michael about the accident. He wasn't exactly calm, and was actually glad his mother had given him that Cypress Oil. He sniffed it, hoping it would soothe him. And it kinda worked. He walked around, gesticulating as he told the deputy what he remembered.  
  
"The guy with the gun was kind of like a, like a muscular Beavis. And... the other one was like a, like a beefy Butthead."  
  
The Native American deputy was getting a bit annoyed. "I'm gonna need a better description than that. I'm assuming they weren't actually cartoons."  
  
Michael took another sniff and said, "Excuse me," before turning away and taking another sniff. At that moment, the bell chimed and Sheriff Jim Valenti walked in the door. He gave Michael a look. He held up the oil and explained, "Cypress Oil, it um, it reduces stress." The Sheriff gave another look and walked away. Michael took a big sniff and went elsewhere.  
  
The Sheriff walked over to Max. "You okay?" he asked him.  
  
"Yeah thanks. I-I'm just a little shaken up," said Max, feeling like he'd been cornered.  
  
The Sheriff went to talk to Deputy Owen, the one who'd talked to Michael. "Sheriff, the suspects ran out after the incident occurred. Couple of outsiders. No apparent robbery, no injuries other than the boy that fell. Just seems like an argument that got out of hand," he said, then stopped when he saw the couple from before, nosing around the back, "Hey, I told you two to stay outta there!" He turned to the Sheriff and continued, "Couple of tourists in town for the crash."  
  
The man approached the Sheriff. "Um, Sheriff, hi, um, um, I'm sorry, I really need to talk to you. I think something happened here."  
  
The Sheriff kept a straight face. "What do you think happened?"  
  
Knowing he would be heard, the man went on. "The gunman was, was, was standing right over there, right? And the shot was fired into that direction. Now, Jen and I, we searched this entire place up and down and... I mean there's, where's the bullet?"  
  
The Sheriff turned to Deputy Owen. "We haven't found the bullet hole yet, Sheriff," he admitted.  
  
The man came forward once more, taking something out of his pocket. "Yeah, and uh, Sheriff. Before it happened, the boy gave me this," he said, handing the picture to the Sheriff.  
  
Max saw the exchange of the picture and felt slightly red in the face. The Sheriff observed the picture, then walked off to Mr. Parker. "Jeff," he said, handing over the picture.  
  
Jeff laughed for a second, then put on a serious face and went to his son. "Max!"  
  
"Yeah?" said Max.  
  
"I told you, about showing the alien photos to the tourists."  
  
Meanwhile, the Sheriff walked to the table that Liz and Maria had been sitting at and picked up one of the two empty bottle of Tabasco sauce sitting on it. Seeing him, the woman, Jen, came up to him and informed him that, "There were two kids sitting over here when it happened, two girls about his age," she said, indicating Max, who started making his way to them, "And then one of them went..."  
  
Max interrupted her and claimed, "Uh yeah, that's right there were. You know that I didn't recognize them, so they must have just been tourists."  
  
"No, no it sure looked like that he knew them to me," said the man. Max looked back to the Sheriff, hoping his fear wouldn't show.  
  
*  
  
Later that night, Max got in his room and closed the door behind him. The events of the day hadn't completely sunk in. What had Liz done? He remembered bits and pieces of the accident to know that he'd really been shot. But he was fine. He stepped in front of the mirror and looked down to the blood and ketchup stained shirt he still wore. He passed his finger through a hole in it... bullet hole... and quickly took the shirt off, stuffing it in his backpack. When he stepped back, he saw his image in the mirror. There was a handprint, silver, right on his stomach, where he assumed he had been shot. This was getting more and more confusing by the second.  
  
*  
  
The next morning, West Roswell High  
  
Max sat in biology class, stealing a few glances towards the empty stool beside him. Liz wasn't there. Would she ignore him? He shook it off and looked up to listen to the teacher.  
  
"Okay, we've spent the last week talking about genus and phylum, and now we're going to get a little more specific and talk about the difference between species. For today's experiment you'll be working in teams of two."  
  
Just then, Liz walked in. Max looked at her, and she looked back quickly before sitting next to him. She put her pencil in her mouth and started flipping the pages of his bio book.  
  
"Ms. Evans, so nice of you to join us. Okay, everyone on the right prepare a slide with the vegetable sampling, everyone on the left, take a toothpick and get a sample from your cheek." Liz took the pencil out as her head shot up. She was obviously nervous and agitated as she got up from her seat. "Ms. Evans?"  
  
"Could I get a bathroom pass?" she asked, trying to remain calm.  
  
"High maintenance today aren't we?" said the teacher as she handed Liz the pass. She took it and exited the room, after putting her pencil on the table next to Max. The teacher handed Max a toothpick and spoke again as Max made the cheek sample.  
  
"It's very easy to look on the outside and say what differentiates humans from other species. But what about what's on the inside, everyone, look at the human cells and describe everything you see on your lab sheet."  
  
Max but the sample on the microscope and looked at his cheek cells, pink little cells. He looked up and saw Liz's pencil sitting there on the table. He picked it up and made a sample from the saliva on the eraser. He looked at that sample and saw Liz's cells, green cells.  
  
After class, Max hurried and went up to Liz. "Liz! Liz! Excuse me, excuse me," he said as he squeezed through the bunches of students, "Liz, I have to talk to you." He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the band room.  
  
*  
  
Inside the room, they could hear someone beating on the drums. It was Tess Valenti, the Sheriff's daughter. Max had been going out with her for a little bit...  
  
"Tess!" called Max when he saw her.  
  
She turned. "Hey!"  
  
"Hey!" he said again, trying to sound cheerful.  
  
"Hey Liz," she said, looking past Max.  
  
"Hey," said Liz.  
  
"So'd you get my message?" she asked as she approached them.  
  
"Oh yeah, I did. I was uh, just a little..." he started to explain.  
  
"Shaken up," offered Tess.  
  
"That's what it was," said Max.  
  
"I know, my dad told me about the gun goin' off. You okay?" she asked.  
  
"Oh, yeah I am, it was just load and then it was over," he said, going for casual.  
  
"So you guys are..." started Tess, indicating the two of them and the band room.  
  
"Um, we're looking for a place... to study, for our bio midterm," he lied.  
  
"Oh right. Right okay, biology. All right, I was leavin' anyway," she said as she walked past them.  
  
"Great, um, that's good," said Max, trying not to sound too happy, feeling the sentence had come out wrong.  
  
"Oh, I got my costume for the crash this Friday it's great..." she started.  
  
"Tess," Max interrupted, "We've gotta study. Sorry."  
  
"Right," she said, nodding, "See ya Liz," she said before leaving.  
  
Once she was gone, Liz spoke up. "So... you're going out with Sheriff's daughter?"  
  
Max had his back to her. "Um, yeah. Well, it's kind of like this, this casual..." He turned to face her and continued, "Okay, Liz. Can we just focus here for one minute please?"  
  
He lifted up his shirt just enough for her to see the silver handprint on his stomach. Liz observed it, trying to remain unaffected. "Wow," she said.  
  
Max began gesticulating as he spoke. "Um, I-I scraped some cells from your pencil. This is really hard to say, I'm trying to keep from blacking out here. Um, the cells weren't normal. So, Liz, what I'm going to suggest to you is that we just go back to the bio lab now, so that I can take a sample so that I can see what I'm thinking is wrong, you know? That I got the wrong cells..."  
  
Liz looked down slightly. "You didn't."  
  
"Okay, um," said Max, a small laugh escaping as he continued, "So help me out here Liz. I mean, what are you?"  
  
Liz thought a bit and spoke. "Well I'm not from around here."  
  
"Where you from?" asked Max not missing a beat.  
  
Liz looked Max right in the eye and pointed skyward. "Up north?" suggested Max. Liz pointed higher. Max took this in and pondered... amazed, yet dumbfounded by the news. Not even sure if what she was saying was a joke or the truth. "You're not an... an alien," he asked, the words feeling strange, "I mean... Are you?"  
  
"Well I prefer the term 'not of this earth'," said Liz, trying to lighten the mood. "Sorry, it's not a good time to joke." Max became a bit uneasy. "Yeah, I am. Wow, it's weird to actually say it."  
  
Max looked around and began heading for the door. "Max..." asked Liz as she followed.  
  
"Um, Liz, you know, I have, I'm gonna be late for my US government class, so I'm just gonna..."  
  
She went up to him and turned him around to face her. They stood close, almost no space between them. "Max, listen to me. You can't talk to anyone about this. Not your parents, not Michael. No one. You don't understand what'll happen if you do. Max please? Now my life is in your hands," she said, pressing her words so he'd understand how important this was. Max looked at her one last time and left. Thoughts were running through Liz's head... "Can I trust him? Will he tell someone? No... not him... he won't..."  
  
*  
  
Same day, West Roswell High cafeteria  
  
Isabel Whitman sat next to Michael, holding the morning's newspaper. "Well, it says right here that shots were fired but no one was injured," she insisted.  
  
"Then where's Max? I mean, why is he avoiding me? Okay, first of all, Max is never late, right? He walks into homeroom today, and goes and sits next to Troy Pamers. He... hates Troy Pamers and you know, goes around admitting it openly... and... Isabel are you listening to me?" he said, talking in a slightly sped up tone, turning to her at the last sentence.  
  
She looked back to the paper and then to her friend. "Yeah, yeah, Michael I'm listening to you. But this is just you being you. All right? Max is fine, nothing happened it's all right here in black and white," she said, using the paper as emphasis. He knew Michael wouldn't let this go until he knew everything. And she wouldn't be taken into it.  
  
*  
  
Meanwhile, somewhere in Roswell, outdoor food stand  
  
Alex Evans walked over to the table with his meal, to meet his sister, Liz and their, Maria. He was obviously upset.  
  
"I can't believe this Liz. You know, I finally feel like I have a quasi-normal existence and you go and blow it all with one random act of lunacy." He turned to Maria and continued, "How did you let my misguided sister do this?"  
  
"Hey, don't turn this around on me. I'm not the one who thinks she's a super hero," replied Maria as she poured Tabasco sauce on her food.  
  
"Look, I said I was sorry," tried Liz, feeling uncomfortable.  
  
"You're sorry? You break a sacred pact and that's all you have to say? It's against the rules Liz, the rules we made!" said Alex, trying to keep his voice down even though he wanted to scream.  
  
"You use your powers all the time," reminded Liz.  
  
"Recreationally," defended Alex. He waved his hand over his taco and it became warmer. "The important thing is, to contain this. We just have to figure out what to say to Mr. Scientist." He caught a glimpse of Liz's guilty face and he felt anger rising even more, but also disbelief. "Oh my God, you told him," he stated.  
  
Maria dropped what she was holding and looked to Liz. "I didn't have a choice. It's gonna be okay," she said.  
  
"Don't you realize that everything has changed?" he asked, panic sounding in his voice.  
  
"No it hasn't," insisted Liz.  
  
"Liz, he's right, we're screwed. It's time to leave Roswell," said Maria as she got up and began walking to the Jeep, with the others following.  
  
"Maria, we can't just leave," said Liz.  
  
"Yeah we can. We've always known this day would come. We said when it did we'd be prepared," explained Maria.  
  
"Maria, where are we gonna go? You know Roswell's home," said Alex.  
  
"Roswell's not home. It's not even in our solar system," said Maria, feeling her anger rising.  
  
"Well this is the closest thing we have to home right now," said Liz.  
  
"For you two maybe. It was you the Evans found on the side of the road not me. They're like real parents to you. My foster dad just keeps me around for the monthly check," said Maria.  
  
"This is gonna be okay. We should just lay low. Go back to school and act normal," said Liz.  
  
"Act normal? That's your big plan, Liz? Don't you realize it's only a matter of time before they find us and turn us over to some government agency where they're gonna test us and prod us, and, oh yeah, exterminate us," said Alex. By then they had climbed in the Jeep and Liz drove them off after taking another look at their angry faces. They were definitely not pleased...  
  
*  
  
Back at WRH  
  
Max walked into the bathroom and went to the mirror. He splashed some water on his face and looked back up. He saw that Michael was exiting a stall and now he stood behind him.  
  
"Hey," said Max, not turning to face him.  
  
"So I called you... what? 37 times?" said Michael.  
  
"I know, I'm sorry," said Max, still not turning.  
  
"Max, what happened?"  
  
"What do you mean Michael? You were there, you saw everything?" said Max, talking to his friend's reflection.  
  
"Did I? Cause um, this isn't ketchup," he said, pulling out his order pad, which had a blood stain on the top sheet. Max turned to face him. "This looks a lot like blood to me. What did Liz do to you?" he asked. Max turned back and dried his hands, attempting to avoid him again.  
  
*  
  
In the Jeep, on the road  
  
Liz and Maria were silent in the front, and so was Alex in the back, except he was listening to music... "Alex, could you please not do that?" asked Liz when she saw.  
  
Alex removed the CD from the side of his head, by his ear and looked up. "Yeah, like listening to a CD is the problem," he said.  
  
"I couldn't just let him die," she defended.  
  
Suddenly they heard the sound of a police siren and Alex looked back to see the Sheriff's car come behind them, flashers on. "Is he pulling us over?" asked Alex, getting nervous.  
  
"Liz go, let's get outta here," insisted Maria.  
  
"We can't start acting guilty," pointed out Liz as she pulled the Jeep over to the side of the road. "He always pulls kids over he does it all the time. It's nothing," she said.  
  
"Yeah, nothing," said Maria, looking out the window for a second.  
  
Sheriff Valenti walked up to Liz's window. "Your license and registration please."  
  
"Of course officer," said Liz, providing them.  
  
The Sheriff looked them over. "Thank you Ms. Evans. We had a little trouble at the Crashdown Café yesterday. You kids be careful out there."  
  
"Yes sir," said Liz, as she moved her foot to the gas pedal, hitting a half empty bottle Tabasco sauce in the process.  
  
The Sheriff saw it. "Watch your speed. Arrive alive," he said before walking away.  
  
"We will," said Liz, as she went to start the Jeep. But Maria grabbed the keys. "Maria, everything is gonna be okay."  
  
"No it won't. Our cover is blown. And I'm not gonna hang around and wait for them to catch us," said Maria, letting her anger out at last.  
  
"No one is caught yet. I mean, we don't even know if there is a "them"," said Liz.  
  
"What happened to our parents? What happened to everybody else on the ship? They were killed, and you know that," said Maria.  
  
"Max won't tell anyone, he's different."  
  
"Really? So how'd he react when you told him? Great you're an alien that's fantastic." Alex smirked and Liz looked away. "No, I didn't think so." With that, she got out of the car and walked off, leaving the keys on her seat.  
  
"Thought I was pissed," said Alex.  
  
*  
  
That night, outside Max's front door  
  
Max and Tess got to the door. "Well, goodnight," he said.  
  
"Oh right, right. Listen Max, you've been somewhere else all night."  
  
"I know, I'm sorry. Tess, do you ever wonder if..." he started.  
  
"Do I ever wonder what?" she asked.  
  
"When you see me, do you, do you feel things?"  
  
"Yes, of course. I feel things. Like what?"  
  
He smiled. "Forget it, I don't know what I was talking about. I'm just gonna go get some sleep."  
  
"All right," she said, nodding. Max reached up to turn off a light above him and his shirt rose up a bit, just enough for Tess to see part of the handprint. "Max?"  
  
He quickly brought his arms down, the shirt covering the print again. "Good night Tess."  
  
"Goodnight Max."  
  
*  
  
Later, on the 'balcony'  
  
Max sat on a long chair, studying his bio book when he heard something. "Max!" came a voice from street level. He walked to the edge and saw Liz. "I have to talk to you."  
  
*  
  
Down in the Crashdown  
  
Max let her in and walked further into the dining room. Liz kept a short distance, so that she wouldn't rush him. "I can't imagine how you must feel right now, I mean, I've thought about telling you a thousand times," she said.  
  
"You have?" he said with a small smile. "Really?" Liz smiled. "What?"  
  
"Sorry, I just, uh, I just keep picturing you in that shirt, with the... big dog... on it."  
  
"What?" he asked confused.  
  
"Forget it, it was a long time ago."  
  
Max thought for a second and then he remembered. "Oh my God. That's... right. I can't believe I actually wore that..." He thought again and looked to Liz. "I had that shirt in kindergarten, I didn't know you until the third grade. Did you... read my mind or something?"  
  
Liz approached him. "No, I-I don't read minds. When I healed you, I made this, this, I don't know, this connection. And I got a rush of images... An image of that shirt flashed into my mind, and, I knew how you felt about it."  
  
"How did I feel about it?" he asked, still suspicious.  
  
"It was the single supreme embarrassment of your life. But your Mom made it for you, she was so proud of it, she'd never knitted a shirt before, so you wore it. For her sake." Max nodded, the shock from the truth in Liz's words still hanging in the air. "I've never tried this before, but maybe I can make the connection go the other way. So you can see, you know that, that I'm still me." She was in front of him now. "I have to touch you," she said. Max nodded his consent. Liz rose her hands to his face, placing one on each side of his face. "Now just take deep breaths and try to let your mind blank out." She looked into his eyes and the connection was almost instant.  
  
What he saw was amazing. He saw two children, walking on the road, naked, caught in a car's headlight. The car stopped and two adults came up. The children... Liz and her brother Alex. Next, he saw Liz and Alex get off a school bus. Immediately, Liz's sight was taken by something. It was him, playing with Michael on the playground. He had looked to her and smiled. She was just puzzled. He saw himself again, happy, jumping, he saw himself in the 'big dog shirt'.  
  
"I could feel everything she was feeling. I could feel her loneliness. For the first time I was really seeing Liz Evans, I saw me as she saw me, and the amazing thing was, in her eyes, I was attractive."  
  
Liz pulled away, breaking the connection. "Did it work?" she asked calmly. Max nodded slowly. She managed a small smile.  
  
*  
  
"Liz Evans has put a force on me. It's like my whole life changed in an instant. It's just... ironic that when something like this finally happened to me... it was with an alien."  
  
Max and Liz grew closer over the next day or so. Neither would speak it, but they knew it. The way they were around each other, how they moved, how they stood...  
  
*  
  
WRH, Band Room  
  
Max searched frantically, not finding anything. "Hey," he heard from behind. He turned and was relieved to find one of his two best friends, Isabel.  
  
"Oh, hey Isabel. Have you seen my backpack anywhere?"  
  
"No, I haven't. Can I talk to you for a second?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, what's up?"  
  
"Well, I'm your friend, and I'm Michael's friend too, so if you lie to Michael, it's sort of like lying to me," said Isabel as Max stood before her.  
  
"Isabel, what did Michael say to you?" asked Max, getting nervous.  
  
"Well, frankly it's vague. I mean, everything needs to be put through the Michael filter. But he said something about how he found blood on your order book. What's going on?" asked Isabel, slightly concerned for her friend.  
  
"Isabel, Michael is totally over-dramatic. You know that. Nothing is going on," assured Max.  
  
"O... Okay, well look. All I care about is that you're okay. So you're... you are, right? You're okay?" asked Isabel.  
  
"I'm okay," said Max with a smile.  
  
"All right," she said, nodding.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"And whatever happened is... over now?"  
  
"It is completely over," he assured again.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Just then, the principal walked in with a deputy behind him. "There he is," said the principal, pointing to Max.  
  
"Mr. Parker, the Sheriff needs to ask you some questions." Max tried to be careful not to let his fear show as he stared at the two men.  
  
*  
  
Office  
  
Max sat in front of a desk, alone in the room. The Sheriff walked in and went to sit behind the desk, as he began to speak. "Afternoon, Mr. Parker. Your father said it would be all right if I talked to you. I'm sorry to have to show you these." He put a picture on the desk and Max's breath was caught short. It was a picture of a dead man. He noticed the date on the picture... November 1959. "This man was found dead, no apparent cause of death. Except that," he said, with another picture, this time closer to the man's face. He had a handprint as well. "What do you make of that mark?" asked the Sheriff.  
  
"I have never seen anything like that before," Max lied.  
  
"Tess said she saw a similar mark on your stomach," said the Sheriff.  
  
"She was wrong."  
  
"I'm sure... Tess has got a pretty wild imagination... I'm gonna need to see for myself Max."  
  
"Come on Sheriff," said Max, looking uncomfortable. "I told you that I spilled ketchup, and I, I said that... about a thousand times."  
  
"Max, please?" Max stood up and slowly lifted up his shirt, just barely. But there was no mark. "The mark faded on the corpse too." Max sat down as the Sheriff continued, "What do you know about a girl named Liz Evans?"  
  
Max hid his panic. "Liz Evans?" The Sheriff nodded. "Um... I don't really know her all that well."  
  
"Was she one of the kids at the Crashdown that day?"  
  
"No," he answered quickly.  
  
"I see."  
  
"Can I go home now, Sheriff?"  
  
"Just one more thing," he said, dropping Max's backpack on the desk. "Someone turned in this backpack, it is yours isn't it?" Max felt all the color drain from his face.  
  
*  
  
Minutes later, gym  
  
Liz was in the middle of volleyball practice. Just as she knocked the ball over the net, she saw Max standing by the door. His emotions were hard to see... too many of them.  
  
*  
  
Office  
  
Sheriff Valenti was pacing the room as he stated the facts. "A shot was fired, there's a bullet hole in the shirt. I'm telling you, the boy was shot." The man who sat at the table, agent Stevens of the FBI, stood up then and stuffed the shirt in his briefcase. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I have a flying saucer sighting in Phoenix. An accountant in Barstow who thinks he's Jesus. Both cases are more solid than this. Have this checked out at the lab, call me Sheriff, if you ever have anything... real." The man left the office, and the Sheriff followed him outside to the parking lot.  
  
"Listen, you guys told me to call you if I saw anything. Well, my daughter saw that handprint."  
  
"I'm sure she did."  
  
"What happens now?"  
  
"Have the lab check out the shirt. I'm gonna handle this case in the proper manner without getting too personal. I suggest you do the same."  
  
"I'm not walking away from this. I'm gonna be a part of this investigation."  
  
"Sheriff, do you know what everyone used to call your father? Sergeant Martian. You don't wanna end up like him," he said, climbing into his car.  
  
"Agent Stevens, I was 8 years old when my father discovered that corpse, my whole life I thought he was as crazy as everyone else did. Crazy to believe. Now I'm not so sure."  
  
"Thank you Sheriff. Your work is done now, we'll take it from here," said the agent as he drove off, leaving Valenti standing in the parking lot.  
  
*  
  
WRH, Art Room  
  
Max and Liz walked in, and Max was a bit agitated, while Liz was still calm. "I need to know the truth Liz. I need to know, everything. Or I'll... I'm just gonna go to Valenti and I'm gonna tell him everything I know."  
  
"Okay," said Liz.  
  
"Okay," said Max, reaching for a piece of paper in his pocket and unfolding it. Liz grinned softly at that. "Okay. All right. Here we go. Where did you come from?"  
  
"I don't know. When the ship crashed I wasn't born yet."  
  
"So there was a crash?"  
  
"All I know is it wasn't a weather balloon that fell that night."  
  
Max thought for a second. "The ship crashed in 1947... you're 16."  
  
"We were in some kind of incubation pods."  
  
"We?" asked Max, feeling flushed.  
  
"Alex and... Maria are also... uh..."  
  
Max sort of looked around. "Okay, well, that... answers, um, that question. Um, what powers do you have?"  
  
"We can connect with people, as uh, you know. We can manipulate molecular structures, and... we can..."  
  
"Wait, what does that mean?" asked Max.  
  
Liz looked around and saw a clay sculpture on one of the tables. She walked to it, placed her hand on top, looked to Max and then waved her hand in front of it. The features that had been sculpted into it disappeared as though it was a new piece of clay. Then she waved back and they returned. "That's, uh... that's how I healed you."  
  
"Liz, who else knows this?" he asked, getting curious about that suddenly.  
  
"No one"  
  
"What about your parents?"  
  
"We don't tell anyone. We sorta think our lives depend on it."  
  
Max was amazed. "So when you healed me you risked all of this getting out didn't you?"  
  
"Yeah," said Liz shyly.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Liz looked at him, warmth in her eyes. "It was you."  
  
Max smiled. Then he remembered something and his face became determined. "Um Liz, Valenti showed me this photo of a corpse. A murder victim. It had the same silver handprint on it's chest."  
  
"That can't be," said Liz, incredulous.  
  
"The photo was marked 1959."  
  
"That's impossible."  
  
"Tess saw the handprint on my stomach and Valenti found my uniform shirt with the bullet hole in it. He just asked me if you were in the café during the shooting. Liz, he suspects you." Liz was definitely about to panic and she started to head for the door. "Liz!"  
  
"I have to go!" she said quickly and left.  
  
"Liz wait, go where? Where are you going? Liz wait! Liz!" he followed her into the hall, but by the time he got there she was gone, mostly due to the huge crowd of students in costume for the festival running through the halls.  
  
*  
  
Later, Evans home, Alex's room  
  
He was standing in front of the mirror, putting the last piece of his costume on his head when the door burst opened and Liz all but ran in. "Forget the festival. It's time to leave." Alex gave her a look, but knew he didn't have a choice.  
  
*  
  
Not too long after, outside Maria's home  
  
Maria ran up to the Jeep and hopped in. "Where's your stuff?" asked Alex, still in costume.  
  
"I'm wearing it," informed Maria. Alex rolled his eyes as they drove off.  
  
*  
  
Parker home, Max's room  
  
Max was sitting on his bed, doing homework, when the door opened and Michael came to stand in front of him, dressed as Yoda, but holding his 'ears' in his hands. Max looked up. "Before I go to this idiotic crash festival I want to know everything. And if you don't tell me the truth right now, I'm going to go to Valenti myself and tell him everything I know."  
  
Max felt his heart beat slightly faster. "What do you know?"  
  
"Well... uh, I-I know that Liz was in the diner that day, and I know that she went up to you when you were shot and... did something to you. And I know that the one person in the world that I thought I could completely trust... is lying to me."  
  
Max hesitated, then said, "You have to promise me that you are not going to freak out."  
  
"Freak out? Max, come on," said Michael.  
  
*  
  
Minutes later, just outside Max's home  
  
The door practically burst opened, as Michael stumbled out, mumbling something incoherently. Max quickly followed. "Michael!" he called after him.  
  
*  
  
In the Jeep  
  
"So is this picture what we're seeing is there's more of us?" asked Maria, obviously excited.  
  
"One more," reminded Liz, "At least there was in 1959."  
  
"Well then there's hope. I mean if we can find him, he can tell us where we came from, what we are..." said Maria.  
  
"Maria, calm down, we had one potential relative 40 years ago, all we know about him is he was a potential killer," explained Alex, in hopes that Maria would let it go, because he knew she wouldn't and that worried him.  
  
*  
  
In Michael's Jetta  
  
He was NOT taking this well. He was practically hyperventilating. "Max, Max what happened to you? You were on this whole... valedictorian path. You were on your way to be this... world renowned scientist and I was gonna be your wacky friend. I can't be a wacky friend to someone who's already wacky! It'd be like repetitious..."  
  
"Michael, you're babbling," said Max as he watched the road, seeing as Michael was panicking while driving.  
  
"I think I've earned the right to babble, all right so just deal with it."  
  
At that moment, Liz, Maria and Alex drove by, going in the opposite direction. "Oh my God Michael that's them! Cut a U-ie!" ordered Max, his tone rising with a mixture of emotions.  
  
"Cut a U-ie?" asked Michael incredulously.  
  
"Michael!"  
  
"Who are you? I mean..." started Michael as Max grabbed the wheel and made the Jetta do a U-turn and follow the Jeep. "Oh my God, you're crazy!" yelled Michael.  
  
"Michael I am not! Please, just catch them!"  
  
"Catch them? Max, we're in a Jetta."  
  
*  
  
The Jeep  
  
Liz saw Valenti's car drive by and quickly turned into an alley, hoping he wouldn't see them. But as they drove in, they saw there was a car blocking the exit. She was about to back out of it, when the Jetta pulled in from the other side as well. They were cornered. "Great," said Alex sarcastically when he saw who it was.  
  
Max and Michael got out of the Jetta and slowly walked to the Jeep. Liz, Maria and Alex did the same. Michael walked just a step behind Max. "What are they doing here?" asked Michael, indicating Maria and Alex. "No, don't tell me there's three..."  
  
"Well..." started Max.  
  
"I think I'm gonna be sick."  
  
They came face to face. Max spoke first. "Michael knows."  
  
"Unbelievable," said Maria.  
  
"Look, I promise I won't tell anyone," said Michael, unsure of his own words.  
  
Maria stepped up to them, and Michael stepped back. "Get your car out of the way, NOW," she said, trying to stay calm, showing no emotion.  
  
"I really don't think that you should try to leave. It's just gonna show people that you're guilty," explained Max.  
  
"Guilty of what? Saving your life?" asked Maria.  
  
"Maria..." called Liz.  
  
"Look, I think I have an idea here. If we can just all work together here maybe we can throw Valenti off," explained Max.  
  
"We're not together. Our lives are at stake, not yours. Now move your car," said Maria.  
  
"Maria, this can't last forever. This secret... and I don't want it to," said Liz calmly.  
  
"Look I can't change what happened. But if you run, Valenti is gonna know it's you. You'll be proving it for him," said Max.  
  
"He's right," said Liz slowly.  
  
"I should've known you'd side with him," said Alex.  
  
"Alex, I'm not on anyone's side all right?"  
  
"Get on a side Liz because time is running out," said Alex to his sister.  
  
Liz looked around a bit and turned to Max. "He should move his car." Maria and Alex seemed to be relieved for a second, until Liz added, "I'm turning myself into Valenti."  
  
"Liz we said we were leaving," reminded Maria.  
  
"Liz I can't leave without you," said Alex, feeling a tear coming unbeknownst to him. He sighed and walked up to Max and Michael. "What's your idea?"  
  
*  
  
A bit later, Valenti home  
  
Tess opened the door and sort of frowned as she saw Max standing there, dressed as Spock. "I waited for you for an hour and a half," she said.  
  
"Tess, I know I've been acting like a real jerk and... I'm sorry," he said with a small innocent smile.  
  
*  
  
Crash festival  
  
Alex and Michael walked side by side, Michael still uncomfortable. A girl walked by in a silver suit and mask. "Nice mask Isabel," said Alex.  
  
She removed her mask. "Alex, hey," she said, trying not to stammer. "Michael," she said, observing his Yoda get-up.  
  
"Hey," he said.  
  
She observed Alex's head gear, dressed as a Conehead, he was hard to miss. "Uh, nice cone," she said shyly.  
  
*  
  
Valenti home  
  
Max and Tess stood close. "Max we don't even have to go to the crash," said Tess.  
  
"Tess it is gonna be great okay?" They kissed. "I am gonna meet you in front of the podium in half an hour, right?"  
  
"Right. Half an hour."  
  
"Yeah," said Max. Tess walked back into the house as Max stepped behind a tree and took out his cell phone and dialed.  
  
*  
  
The Jeep  
  
"We've got half an hour," confirmed Max to Liz.  
  
"Got it," she said, closing the phone after and turning to Maria. "Well..."  
  
"It won't work," she said.  
  
*  
  
The festival  
  
Valenti walked up to Deputy Owen. "Where is she?" he asked.  
  
"There," he said, pointing out Liz, dressed as Agent Scully. "What did this girl do Jim?"  
  
"I'll take it from here, Owen." He walked off to where Liz had been.  
  
*  
  
Festival parking lot  
  
Alex sat on the Jetta's hood as Michael rolled on the ground. "Come on roll!" he ordered.  
  
"Okay, I'm rolling," said Michael.  
  
"Roll!"  
  
"I'm rolling! Okay?"  
  
"Right that's better," he said, hopping off. "Keys?"  
  
Michael held up the keys, not handing them over yet. "Okay, I know my mom's car doesn't look like much, but, not destroying it is the key to my and my mother's relationship okay?"  
  
"Whatever," said Alex as he took the keys. Michael rolled his eyes for a change.  
  
*  
  
Somewhere else at the festival  
  
Valenti approached Liz. She felt like she would faint. "I have some questions for you," he said.  
  
"What kind of questions?" she asked innocently.  
  
"Were you at the Crashdown Café the day of the shooting?"  
  
"Yes," she said.  
  
"What did you do to Max Parker?"  
  
"I didn't do anything to him," she pleaded.  
  
"I don't believe that," he said as he started to handcuff her.  
  
"Aren't you going to read me my rights?" she asked.  
  
"Do you have any?"  
  
*  
  
Still at the festival, elsewhere  
  
Max walked around, waiting. Suddenly he bumped into two people, both wearing masks. He walked off without seeing that they were the couple who were at the Crashdown the day of the shooting. They took off their masks, looked at each other, and followed him.  
  
Meanwhile, Alex got in the car, his 'cone' making it a bit hard. He backed up a bit, and pretended to run over Michael. Then, he got out and ran away. Max came about just then, and acted in shock. "Michael!" he yelled, starting to run towards him, the couple right behind him.  
  
Just then, a girl ran up to Michael, still lying on the ground and placed her hand over his heart. She wore a long velvet cape with a hood and a small mask shielded her eyes. At the same time, Isabel walked up. "What's going on? What are you, what are you doing?" she asked, before the girl pushed her and ran off again.  
  
"What happened here?" asked Valenti, just getting to the scene. He went up to Michael, immediately seeing the bright silver handprint. "Are you okay?" he asked as he helped him sit up a bit.  
  
"Yeah, I think so," said Michael weakly.  
  
The man, who still stood in the back, spoke up then. "There she goes! Sheriff, there she is. There's the girl that went up to him that's her!" he said, pointing to the girl, still running.  
  
"Watch the girl," he told Owen, indicating Liz.  
  
Valenti ran off, following the girl. At some point, he lost her, until he saw her standing in a crowd near the podium. He slowly walked up to her and then turned her around. The girl pushed her mask up and was revealed to be Tess. "Dad, scared the hell outta me. You seen Max around? He was supposed to meet me here like 15 minutes ago."  
  
"No," he said simply, slightly dumbfounded.  
  
"Mmm... okay," said Tess. Valenti looked down at his hand and saw silver.  
  
*  
  
Inside a port-a-potty  
  
The girl in the long velvet cape brought down her hood and removed the mask. It was Maria. She breathed deeply, the rush of the experience coming over her.  
  
*  
  
Back at the festival  
  
Valenti was dragging Liz to the side of a van. He was angry. "You think you're smart don't you?"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Don't play games with me, Ms. Evans, this is paint," he said, holding up his hand. "You went up to Max Parker in that café and you did something to him, and I need to know what it was."  
  
"I had a hamburger, when the gun went off I ran away," explained Liz, tearing up. "Did I break the law? Sheriff are you arresting me?"  
  
Valenti looked around and sighed. He undid the handcuffs. "No, your parents would have you our in an hour. Let me tell you something. I'm gonna find out what the truth is. You can count on it. You're really smart, Liz. Well, so am I." And he walked off.  
  
*  
  
The crash festival podium  
  
"Is everybody ready?" yelled Jonathan Frakes to the excited crowd. Together, they counted down the clock. "8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Blastoff! Yeah!" When he yelled "Blastoff!", a small spacecraft was let down a wire and crashed to the ground, flames igniting, sending three little 'alien' bodies falling, slowly burning. "Yeah!" yelled Frakes.  
  
All were cheering loudly. All but three. Alex and Maria stood at a gate, observing the crash, their faces washed of any emotions. Liz joined them and they stood watching the little aliens burn.  
  
Liz looked around and saw Max standing to a side and walked to him. "Hey," she said.  
  
"Hey," she said back.  
  
She walked up and pushed away a small strand of hair that stood on Max's 'ear'.  
  
"Oh," he said.  
  
"You had a, uh..." she said shyly.  
  
"Hair thing, right. Thanks."  
  
"Sure," he smiled, then, "Max, it's not safe. I mean, for you and, and me too... it's not safe."  
  
"I don't care," he said.  
  
"Max I really, really wish that this could be something, you know, more. But it can't. We're just..."  
  
"Different," he finished for her.  
  
"Yeah," she said. "I'll see you at school." She turned to leave.  
  
"Liz?" he called to her. She turned back. "I never got to thank you, for saving my life."  
  
"Thank you," she said. Both smiled.  
  
*  
  
"It's September 24th, I'm Max Parker and five days ago I died. But then the really amazing thing happened. I came to life."  
  
CHAPTER TWO  
  
M  



	2. The Morning After

CHAPTER TWO  
  
Max sat on his balcony, the laptop sitting nearby as he looked through his telescope at the stars. Soon he turned and went to sit. He opened the computer and started typing in his diary.  
  
"September 27. I'm Max Parker and I will never look at the stars in the sky the same way again. I'll never look at anything the same way again. What did Liz mean when she said, "I'll see you in school?" Did she mean it as like something real simple, that meant nothing really, or was it something more... What is she thinking right now? Is she agonizing? Wondering what is going to happen next? Unable to sleep peacefully while trying to figure out what will happen next?"  
  
*  
  
That night, Evans home  
  
Unlike what Max thought, Liz was actually sleeping very much peacefully. But she was awakened by a noise. She opened her eyes and saw someone was trying to climb through the window. She carefully grabbed one of her father's old baseball bats, which she kept next to her bed at all time. She sneaked up to her window, and when the person jumped in, she raised it above her head, ready to bring it down, when she recognized the girl.  
  
"Hold it there! Don't hit me!" yelled Maria, putting her arms in front of herself. Liz lowered the bat.  
  
"Argument with Hank?" she asked knowingly. Maria's foster dad, Hank, was always being hard on her. Maria had taken the habit of sleeping on Liz's floor.  
  
"Couldn't sleep," said Maria. Liz rolled out a sleeping bag, which was constantly under her desk, awaiting for the next time there would be a last minute 'sleepover'. She climbed back into bed. When she realized Maria wasn't moving, she turned back to her.  
  
"Hey, I was sleeping," she said.  
  
"Amazing," said Maria.  
  
"What's amazing?" asked Liz.  
  
"That you can sleep when the key to our entire existence is out there."  
  
"Maria..."  
  
"Liz, listen that picture Valenti showed Max means there's someone else out there. Someone who was here in 1959. That means he was here when it crashed. He knows where we come from, he knows who we are, he knows why we're here. Maybe he knows how to get back."  
  
"Maria, I know how you feel. Believe me, I want to know too. But the sheriff has that picture so we'll never see it. I mean, that would be impossible, right? Maria?" But Maria's mind was already elsewhere.  
  
*  
  
The next morning, near the Sheriff's station  
  
Maria stood watch, trying to come up with a plan. She wouldn't tell the others, although she figured they'd know somehow. All she needed now was a way in.  
  
*  
  
That time, Crashdown café backroom  
  
Michael picked up his uniform shirt and pulled it on as he spoke to Max. "I mean, what do we know about these people? Nothing. How do we know that they're not 3 feet tall, green and slimy?"  
  
"I guess we don't," said Max calmly.  
  
"And you know what else doesn't particularly please me? These powers. How do we know they can't just wiggle their noses and poof us into oblivion?"  
  
"I guess we don't," said Max again.  
  
"Okay, you're being so casual about this, I want to choke you! Max, we're dealing with alie..." Max silenced him as one of the cooks walked past them.  
  
"Can you please not say that word in public?"  
  
*  
  
Seconds later, in the front of the café  
  
Michael kept on talking to Max. "The point is that we don't know anything about these... Czechoslovakians. Are they good Czechoslovakians? Bad Czechoslovakians? We don't know. Are they just random Czechoslovakians? For all we know, they don't have their passports."  
  
Just then, Isabel popped her head up from her booth. "Who's Czechoslovakian?" she asked.  
  
Both guys jumped and turned to her. "Hey!" they both said.  
  
"Hey!" she said, "So, who's Czechoslovakian?"  
  
At the same time, Max said, "The new kid at school," and Michael said, "The guy at the hardware store." They looked to each other and Max said, "The new kid at school who works at the hardware store."  
  
"Exactly," said Michael.  
  
"Oh. What about him?" asked Isabel.  
  
"Nothing," said the guys.  
  
"Fantastic," said Isabel, sarcastically. They walked off.  
  
Max nearly knocked Michael over when he stopped suddenly, looking out the window. "Czechoslovakian, 9 o'clock," said Michael. Outside the window, Maria was looking at them. "Okay, that girl is just weird."  
  
*  
  
WRH, Geometry class  
  
Max was standing by his desk, talking to a couple guys. He looked right and observed Liz sitting at her desk.  
  
"The thing about Czechoslovakians that you need to understand, is that they have these amazing eyes."  
  
He was taken out of his thoughts, when one of his friend's exclaimed, "Okay, that is totally not Mr. Singer." A tall blonde woman walked in as the bell rang.  
  
"Hi, I'm Kathleen Topolsky. I'll be substituting for Mr. Singer who's out sick for a couple days."  
  
"I hope he's seriously ill," said one of Max's friends.  
  
"So the infamous Roswell, New Mexico. Before we get started, let me just ask: Does anyone here actually believe in aliens?" asked Topolsky.  
  
The students all laughed... except for Max and Liz of course. Liz looked to Max.  
  
"Okay, let's take roll," said Topolsky, picking up a sheet. "Um... Bartley."  
  
"Here," said Bartley.  
  
"Collins," said Topolsky.  
  
"Here," said Collins.  
  
"Evans," said Topolsky.  
  
"Here," said Liz.  
  
"Guerin," said Topolsky. No answer. "Maria Guerin? Is she here today? Does anyone know where Maria is?" All turned to Liz. "Evans, right? Liz Evans?"  
  
"Yeah?" said Liz.  
  
"Do you know where Maria Guerin is?" asked Topolsky.  
  
"Uh, Maria's not really into Geometry," explained Liz. The students laughed.  
  
"She's not into it. I guess I can understand that. Pretty uninspiring stuff. Let's open our books to page 228." Max looked to Liz for a second while opening his book.  
  
*  
  
After class, hallway  
  
Max ran up to Liz. "Hi," he said.  
  
"Hi," said Liz, "How's it going?"  
  
"Good, um, you know, things are just normal... Completely normal."  
  
"Good," said Liz.  
  
"So... was that weird?" asked Max.  
  
"What?"  
  
"That substitute just asked all of those questions about Maria. What was that about?"  
  
"I'm sure she was just taking attendance."  
  
"Right," said Max.  
  
"Max, don't worry about it. No one's suspicious of Maria. It's me."  
  
"Okay," said Max. Just then Alex walked up.  
  
"Hi Max," he said with a smile.  
  
"Hi," he answered.  
  
"Hey Alex," said Liz to her brother.  
  
"We should go," said Alex as he took his sister's arm and pulled her away.  
  
*  
  
Sheriff's station  
  
Sheriff Valenti walked in, immediately noticing a man sitting on a folding chair in the hall. "Good morning!" said the man cheerfully.  
  
"Good morning," returned the Sheriff. He walked to Deputy Hansen, who stood behind the counter. "Who is that?" he whispered.  
  
"FBI," the deputy whispered as well, he checked a sheet and added, "Agent Hart."  
  
"Who's he here to talk to?"  
  
"No one, as far as I can tell."  
  
"Well, what's he doing here?"  
  
"Doesn't appear to be doing anything. He's just been sitting there since 7 am."  
  
"Deputy Hansen, did you ask him what he's doing here?"  
  
"Yes sir, he said that he was here on assignment and that we should go about our business as usual," explained Hansen.  
  
"Oh, so your response to that was just all right," said the Sheriff. Hansen didn't answer. The Sheriff walked up to the man on the folding chair. "Agent Hart, I'm Sheriff Valenti. Can I see some identification, please?  
  
The man showed him, then said, "Sorry about the intrusion. I'm here on assignment, Sheriff. You should just go about business..."  
  
"As usual," finished the Sheriff, "Yeah, I heard. See, my problem with that is that having a federal agent sitting smack dab in the middle of my station house isn't exactly business as usual."  
  
"My orders are to not leave this chair until I'm relieved."  
  
"Uh-huh. Agent Hart, the FBI has no jurisdiction here. Now I'm going to ask you to please get up and leave. And take your folding chair with you."  
  
*  
  
WRH, outside  
  
Max and Michael sat with their lunches, already in conversation. "It's impossible, right, that she's not who she says she is?" asked Max.  
  
"Well, no one is who they say they are. I mean, what do you mean exactly?" asked Michael.  
  
"Forget it."  
  
"What, that she's a spy?"  
  
"No, don't be ridiculous.  
  
"'Cause that kind of stuff happens, you know." He was on a roll now.  
  
"Now you're being crazy."  
  
"Well think about it. She takes attendance. What substitute teacher takes attendance? I mean, God, the whole thing is so Roswellian. I'm telling you Max, she's been sent here."  
  
"Why would she be sent here?"  
  
"To find the Czechoslovakians," Michael said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Sniff some cedar oil, Michael," said Max. He did so.  
  
"Which makes me feel that much more about what I already thought before you told me about this, which is that we should definitely tell Isabel."  
  
"No. Look, Michael, we mustn't tell anyone... ever. Ever."  
  
"Mustn't? When have you ever said 'mustn't'? Look, we need someone with a little perspective. Okay, there's all this stuff happening, and it's dangerous. The other day the Sheriff asked me all these questions. And now we have this Topolsky person poking around. You know, that's what they do. They send special government task forces. Alien hunters. And suddenly, we're like, accessories to Czechoslovakians. We need Isabel in on this."  
  
Max listened to him, then looked beyond and pointed. Close by, Isabel was sitting on the ground... with her legs around her head. "Admittedly, she's no Charlie's Angel, but she's all we've got right now," said Michael as he observed her.  
  
The other kids walked around laughing. "What, so now I'm a freak?" Isabel was asking.  
  
*  
  
Soon after, inside WRH, Max's locker  
  
Michael looked around as Max took some books out of his locker until he saw something. "Tess Valenti, headed this way."  
  
Max's head shot up as he turned to Michael. "As in the hall or my locker?"  
  
"The latter," said Michael.  
  
"Oh God," said Max.  
  
"What are you gonna say to her?"  
  
"What am I supposed to say? I mean, I saw her over the summer, and it was casual. She has to know that it's over now, she has to be thinking of it as a 'summer fling'..."  
  
"Max!" called Tess as she walked up to the guys.  
  
"Tess!" said Max.  
  
"How are you?" she asked, getting closer.  
  
Michael grinned and said, "See ya!" He walked away.  
  
"Hey," said Max.  
  
"Hey," said Tess, "How's it going?"  
  
"Good. I'm just pretty loaded down with all this school stuff, you know?"  
  
"Yeah I know. You take all that stuff pretty seriously."  
  
"Yeah," said Max.  
  
"Right, okay."  
  
"All right," he said as he turned to leave, but turned back when she started to talk.  
  
"Listen Max, I think it's important that we are honest with each other. I was talking with Tammy Hilligan, and she agrees with me. A person should be on time, Max. I know we left things casual, and I understand that, but you did say that you would meet me at the Crash Festival. I just feel that if you care about a person, which I do, then you should be on time. The truth is I you were just some guy and you stiffed me like you did, I would walk in a second, but you're not..."  
  
As she talked, Max noticed Topolsky walk into the hall behind her, carrying a bunch of files. He interrupted her and said, "Tess, I really want to talk to you right now, I do, but it's just not a good time. I'm sorry, I gotta go, I'm sorry." With that he walked away, leaving a bewildered Tess standing by his locker. He looked around, trying to find Topolsky again, when he bumped into her, sending the files she held flying. "Oh... I'm sorry, I'm sorry about..." Both crouched to retrieve the files.  
  
Topolsky looked at him and said, "Parker, Max."  
  
"Yeah," said Max nodding.  
  
"Photographic memory," said Topolsky as they continued picking up the papers.  
  
"Wow, that's interesting. I've never met anyone with a photographic memory before."  
  
"Helps in my line of work."  
  
"Here, let me help you with that," said Max as he went to pick up more.  
  
"That's okay," said Topolsky, just as Max picked up a file. He recognized the picture immediately. It was Maria's records.  
  
*  
  
Soon after, trailer park  
  
Max walked around, unsure of what to do. He'd looked up the address, but now he wasn't sure. He went up to the trailer and knocked on the door. He was greeted by a man who was probably drunk or something by the looks of him. "Hi, um, I'm looking for Maria. Guerin." The man didn't move. "Maybe I made a mistake."  
  
The man smiled, something Max wished to never see again, and yelled, "Ria!" He went back to sit in front of the television and Max came in uncomfortably. Maria came in the 'living room'. She walked to Max and said, "Let's go outside. C'mon."  
  
Once outside, Max told her about what he saw. "You're sure it was my records, it was definitely my records?"  
  
"Yeah," said Max.  
  
"She asked about me in class?"  
  
"Oh, well she was just taking attendance and so when you weren't there, she asked the class if anyone knew you."  
  
"So she's looking for me."  
  
"I don't know what's going on, Maria. I just thought I should tell you."  
  
"Thanks," said Maria.  
  
"Sure," said Max, looking down.  
  
"Listen, if Hank insulted you or anything..."  
  
"Oh no, no," assured Max.  
  
"You kind of have to ignore him."  
  
"Sorry... to just show up here."  
  
Maria looked around. "It's where I live," she said, "Thanks.  
  
*  
  
That night, Sheriff's office  
  
He was trying to reach someone at the FBI on the phone, but it wasn't easy. "Yeah, I know it's late. But he sent an agent into my building. I think I've got a right to an immediate explanation... No, I won't call back... No, tomorrow is not acceptable... Yeah, I'm sorry about it too. Listen... No, excuse me... Hello? Hello?" They'd hung up.  
  
He hung up as well. He got up and walked to a locked file cabinet. He unlocked it and opened a drawer to retrieve a file. It contained the autopsy pictures of a man, including the one he had shown Max a few days earlier. He went to the back of the file, where a small paper envelope was stapled. He removed it and opened it. Inside there was a key. No one knew where it belonged. He put the file back, and put the key in his thermos, then the thermos in a paper bag, and he placed the bag in his desk drawer. He left his office.  
  
*  
  
Outside the station  
  
The Sheriff drove past a mini mart, just as Maria walked out, carrying a large paper bag under one arm. She crossed the street and walked into the station. She read the signs on the wall, indicating various locations. She started walking towards the direction of the Sheriff's office, but was stopped by Deputy Hansen, who carried stacks of toilet paper. "Can I help you?" he asked.  
  
She put on a smile and began her spiel. "Good evening, Deputy. I'm selling candies for charity."  
  
"Charity?" asked Hansen.  
  
"Yeah, I'm on the committee to re-open Westlake Orphanage, Deputy... Hansen," she continued, reading the man's name off his tag, "You can be a part of helping to find homes for dozens of children in need. Single boxes are six dollars a piece, and I feel obliged to strongly recommend the peanut clusters. They are good."  
  
"Well, I'm kind of trying to lay off the sweets right now."  
  
"Understood Deputy. If it's all right, I'll just take a look to see who else is around," Maria said, trying to make a run for it and get to business.  
  
"There's nobody up that corridor," said Hansen.  
  
"Um, what if I came back tomorrow night?"  
  
"Well, it's usually pretty empty at night."  
  
"Well, thanks for your help, Deputy," she said, as she made her way to the exit. Almost immediately, she ran into the Native American Deputy that had been at the Crashdown the day of the shooting.  
  
"What are you doing here?" he asked her.  
  
"I'm selling candies for charity," she said, holding up a box.  
  
"Not in here, you're not."  
  
"Yes, sir," she said, quickly leaving.  
  
*  
  
Later, Evans living room  
  
The alien trio sat, as Maria explained what she'd done. Alex was NOT pleased. "Are you insane?" he asked.  
  
"I didn't just wander in, all right? I had a cover story."  
  
"And what was your cover story?" asked Liz.  
  
He held up a piece as he said, "I was selling candies for charity. Peanut cluster?" She offered one to Alex, but he refused.  
  
"And they bought it?" asked Liz.  
  
"No, they all seemed to be on a diet," explained Maria.  
  
"Not the candy, Einstein, the story," said Alex.  
  
"Yeah, they bought the story," he noticed Alex's outfit, which was slightly 'over-neat', "Why are you wearing that?"  
  
"Because, Maria, I have a date..." he said while straightening his vest, "With a girl... that I like. In fact, I like my whole life here. And I have a date next Friday that I'm hoping I won't have to miss because I'm running from the law."  
  
"You two, the point is this. That file has got to be in Valenti's office. All right? He leaves for the say at 7:30. There's no one else in the entire wing of the Sheriff's station. We go in, we find the file, we get the info, we put the file back..." explained Maria, before being interrupted by Liz.  
  
"So how do we break in?" she asked, then when Alex shot her a look, "Hypothetically."  
  
"The window. It's got a lock on it. Nothing you can't handle."  
  
"Alarm system?" asked Liz, and after another look from Alex, "Hypothetically."  
  
"Piece of cake. Even I could deactivate it," said Maria.  
  
"Liz, don't humor her. I can't believe you're even considering this," said Alex.  
  
"I just want to know how feasible the plan is... which it's not... feasible. It's not feasible, Maria."  
  
"This is what we've been waiting for our entire lives. I mean this is the first time we've ever had any clue that might tell us who we are. We don't have a choice," said Maria.  
  
Just then, they heard the front door opened, it was Liz and Alex's parents. "Hey!" called Mr. Evans.  
  
"Anybody here?" asked Mrs. Evans.  
  
"And with government agents after us, we had better get our asses in gear, don't you think?" asked Maria in hushed tones.  
  
"Agents?" asked Liz.  
  
"What are you talking about?" asked Alex.  
  
"Talk to Max," instructed Maria.  
  
The parents entered the living room. "You guys hungry?" asked Mr. Evans.  
  
"Hey guys, we got pizza," said Mrs. Evans. "Hey honey, you look... handsome," she said to Alex. "Oh Maria... hi," she said to Maria.  
  
"Hey, I was just leaving," she said, getting up.  
  
"We got plenty of pizza," said Mr. Evans, holding up the two large pizza boxes.  
  
"My dad's cooking," Maria lied, "Thanks." And she left.  
  
"Well, I'm starved," said Mrs. Evans, "C'mon guys. Plates, napkins, let's eat!" Liz and Alex looked to each other, then followed.  
  
*  
  
Next day, in Geometry class, WRH  
  
The students listened as Topolsky spoke and wrote on the board. "And we know that the sum of A, B, and C equals 360 degrees."  
  
"What is she talking about?" Max whispered to himself.  
  
Topolsky heard him. "Mr. Parker?"  
  
"180," said Max.  
  
"I'm sorry?"  
  
"It's a triangle. You know, the sum of the parts would be 180 degrees."  
  
The class laughed as Topolsky looked back to the board. "Right. Right, of course. Equals 180 degrees," she said as she changed what she'd written. Behind her back, Max gave a look to Liz.  
  
*  
  
After class, hallway, WRH  
  
Max had told Liz what he'd told Maria. "But she pulled other students' records," said Liz.  
  
"Well, yeah, but the point is that she pulled Maria's."  
  
"How many others were there?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe ten."  
  
"Well, ten's a lot," said Liz.  
  
"Okay, it might have only been five. I'm not sure how many there were."  
  
"You can't just show up at Maria's and get her riled up like that. You don't know her. She's not big into 'let's go over our options'. She acts on things."  
  
"Look, I'm sorry, I just thought that Maria was in danger and that I'd better tell her."  
  
"In danger of what?"  
  
"I don't know. I have no idea. Look, I am just saying that if there is a spy among us, don't you think it behooves us to do something about it?"  
  
"Spy?" asked Liz.  
  
"Well yeah."  
  
"Max..."  
  
"No, Liz, that sort of thing exists, doesn't it? There's like special branches of the government... alien hunters, you know, that sort of thing."  
  
"So you think Miss Topolsky is an alien hunter."  
  
"When you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous."  
  
"Max, thank you, you know, for looking out for us. But we have to on with life as it was before this happened. And we have to be careful now. All of us. You, too."  
  
*  
  
Later, hallway, WRH  
  
Liz walked through the hallway and something caught her eye through the window. There was Topolsky talking with the Sheriff and some other man. Liz started to think.  
  
*  
  
Men's room, WRH  
  
Michael held the note. It read, "Meet me in the 2nd floor eraser room 6th period, Liz."  
  
"The eraser room, uh? Max, do you know what the 2nd floor eraser room means?" asked Michael.  
  
"Of course I know what it means..." said Max, then, "What does it mean?"  
  
"It's where Greg Coleman gave Marlene Garcia that hickey the size of a softball," he said, starting to list off the events, "It's where Richie Roher and Amanda Lourdes 'consummated everything'..."  
  
"Okay, Michael, you know what? You're just making this into something it's not," said Max as he washed his hands.  
  
"Max, you shouldn't do this. Okay? I mean... we don't know what can happen. She touched you and you saw things. What happens when you kiss her? How do you know what it is to be kissed by a Czechoslovakian? You don't."  
  
"Okay, Michael, who said anything about kissing? She's not even interested in me... at all. She said that things were just like they were before. No change, she said it."  
  
"Max... it's not just kissing that goes on in the Eraser Room," said Michael.  
  
Max's friend from Geometry, who was standing next to them at that last comment, snickered and said, "He's right about that."  
  
"The eraser room... some clean erasers there, while others... lose their innocence. Do you know what I mean by 'lose their innocence', Max? If you care about Liz, don't do this, okay?"  
  
*  
  
That day, Sheriff's office  
  
The Sheriff sat at his desk and looked up when he sensed a presence. It was Agent Stevens. "Good afternoon, Sheriff," he said.  
  
"Agent Stevens. You don't write, you don't call. I'm sorry about kicking junior out of here the other day. He had no jurisdiction. No offense."  
  
"None taken," said the Agent.  
  
"So, what'd you guys find on that waitress uniform?"  
  
"Well several things actually, Sheriff: tomatoes, salt, water, sugar, vinegar... ketchup, Sheriff, no blood." The Sheriff's face fell. "We've wasted enough tax-payer dollars to try to find something that isn't out there. No space ship landed here in 1947. No aliens are currently residing in Roswell, New Mexico. I've been given the authority by the governor to search the premises to remove any information pertaining to UFOs, alien sightings, and other alleged paranormal occurrences in this county. This thing is over, Sheriff." He went just outside the door and called to his men, "Let's get on with it, guys."  
  
The Sheriff thought for a second, then said, "You found blood on the shirt. Why else would you care enough to remove my files. Wouldn't that be a waste of taxpayer dollars?"  
  
Agent Hart walked up to Stevens, and said, "It's locked."  
  
Stevens extended his hand for the key and the Sheriff handed it over. "This won't take long. Thank you, Sheriff."  
  
The Sheriff looked around and then took his thermos out of the drawer as he got up. "Make yourself at home. I'm going to lunch."  
  
*  
  
Outside the station  
  
Across the street, Maria observed as the Sheriff walked out of the station carrying the thermos.  
  
*  
  
Eraser room, WRH  
  
Liz was cleaning an eraser when Max walked in. "So... this is the eraser room. I've never been here before."  
  
Liz walked across the room. "I just thought we should be somewhere private."  
  
"Right," said Max, as he locked the door.  
  
"You were right about Topolsky. She isn't who she appears to be."  
  
"Oh," said Max, slightly disappointed.  
  
She removed a vent screen to reveal they could see into an office. "She's been using this office. I thought we should find out why she's here."  
  
"Yeah," said Max as he went to stand beside her.  
  
"She has off 6th and 7th period, so we might be here for a while," said Liz. Both stood close to the other as they looked into the office, waiting.  
  
*  
  
Outside the station  
  
Maria still watched the station as she noticed a man exiting, carrying some file boxes. That got her attention. The man put the boxes in his car trunk. What was going on?  
  
*  
  
Eraser room  
  
"I'm still confused. If you crash-landed in 1947, are you really 16 or are you 52 in a 16-year-old's body? Or do you guys just age differently? I mean, is... 1 alien year equal to 3 human years?"  
  
Liz smiled. "You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?"  
  
"Kind of," said Max, smiling as well.  
  
"Well, we know we came out of the pods in 1989. We just don't know how long we were there. When we came out of we looked like 6 year olds."  
  
"So were you... green?" asked Max, slightly hating himself for asking.  
  
"Green?" asked Liz puzzled.  
  
"Before you took human form, were you 3 feet tall and green and slimy?" he explained, forcing out a laugh as he added, "You know, I'm very sorry for asking you that. It's Michael's question."  
  
"No, we just always looked like this. Except for the, uh, third eye." She looked down at the ground and Max tried to look for the eye, hoping she wouldn't see him. She turned her head back and he sat up. She smiled and said, "Kidding!"  
  
Max acted like he was aware. "Yeah, I knew you were kidding." She laughed and he shoved her playfully. "So uh, you really have no idea where you're from, like what planet, or who your people are besides Maria and Alex?"  
  
"No idea," said Liz.  
  
"Well, that must be kind of freeing in a way."  
  
"Freeing?" asked Liz.  
  
"Um, well just with me, you know, my parents own the Crashdown, so everyone in town knows who I am. Like... if I so much as get a haircut, everyone seems to notice, and they have to give me their opinion on it. It kind of makes life claustrophobic. It's like, you know, how am I ever supposed to become whoever it is that I'm gonna become while everyone is looking? Just... sometimes I wish I could be invisible."  
  
"Sometimes I wish I didn't have to be so invisible," said Liz. There was a silence, which was broken by the sound of a door opening. Topolsky stepped into her office, followed by a man.  
  
Max and Liz got up to the opening and listened. "Okay, I looked through all of them, and this is where I wanted to start," she said, handing the man a file.  
  
"Maria Guerin. Have you interviewed her yet?"  
  
"She hasn't set foot in school since I've been here. But if Muhammed doesn't come to the mountain..."  
  
"Do you want me to go talk to her?" asked the man.  
  
"No, I'll do it. Just check and make sure the address is correct."  
  
"You got it." Max and Liz looked at each other.  
  
*  
  
Later, night, in front of the Crashdown  
  
Max and Liz pulled up to the Crashdown in Liz's Jeep. "Five minutes," said Liz.  
  
"Right," said Max as he ran off.  
  
Just then, Maria ran up to Liz. "Maria, something's up."  
  
"They're taking things out of the Sheriff's office."  
  
"What?" asked Liz.  
  
"I don't know. Some guys in suits. So we gotta get in there. It's now or never, Liz."  
  
*  
  
Inside the Crashdown  
  
Michael stood next to a table, where a woman looked at the menu. "You know, I'd steer you to this side of the menu," he said, showing her. Just then, Max entered. "Excuse me." He walked to him. "Where have you been?" he asked as they started walking through the café.  
  
"I need you to cover for me," asked Max.  
  
"When?"  
  
"Tonight."  
  
"Oh, no. It's a zoo," said Michael.  
  
A customer at the counter spoke up then. "Excuse me, I've been waiting for my hot fudge blast off for like twenty minutes'"  
  
"Like he needs 80 grams of fat," muttered Michael under his breath, "Okay, so one trip to the eraser room and you're above working? Go on, your highness, you have to work now. The masses are demanding alien-themed, greasy food and by God, it's our job to serve it to them."  
  
"Look, Michael, this is really important. I'll tell you all about it later. You're great, but right now I've gotta go." Max was almost out when Isabel came right up to him, blocking his way.  
  
"Okay, I want some answers, all right? Because first of all, there are rumors going around that last week you were shot here in the café," she said, motioning to Max, then to Michael, "And then at the crash festival you were seemingly run over by a car, but then you weren't. And every time I walk up to you two, you go silent or make up some ridiculous story about Czechoslovakia, which is a country that has not existed for ten years. So I want the truth and I want it now."  
  
Max exchanged a quick glance with Michael and said, "Isabel, the reason that we keep on changing the subject is..."  
  
"Jock itch," blurted out Michael, "We have jock itch, Isabel."  
  
"Yeah, and we didn't even want to talk about it in front of you because we thought it would make you feel really uncomfortable," Max lied.  
  
"But if you really want to know, we can tell you," said Michael.  
  
"In really excruciating detail," said Max.  
  
Isabel made a face, then said, "No! I'm eating!" And she left.  
  
Max turned to Michael and said, "Thanks," before making his exit as well.  
  
*  
  
Back outside  
  
"Maria, it's important to me, too," insisted Liz.  
  
"All you want to do is protect what you've got here in Roswell," said Maria.  
  
"That's right, I do."  
  
"Have you ever thought what it's like here for me, Liz?"  
  
"Of course I have," said Liz, before noticing Maria was looking past her. She turned to find Max standing there. "Look, the woman who pulled your records, she's on her way to your place," Liz told Maria.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Just stay away from there tonight. Alex is waiting for you at our house. Just go there and wait."  
  
"Wait for her to find me?"  
  
"Don't do anything stupid," said Liz before Maria walked off.  
  
Not too far behind, Tess pulled up in her car when she saw Max and Liz get in the Jeep and drive off. "Max!" she called. She returned to her seat, and drove after them.  
  
*  
  
Trailer park, close to Maria's home  
  
Max and Liz sat in the Jeep waiting. Liz played with her ring as Max turned to her. "So, how did you end up where you ended up, and Maria ended up here?"  
  
"It's a long story," said Liz sadly.  
  
"Is her foster father always, um, so..." He didn't quite know how to ask.  
  
"Tough?" suggested Liz, "Yeah." Just then, Topolsky arrived. Liz leaned back towards Max to watch her. In her car, Tess made a face. In the Jeep, the two observed Topolsky talking to Hank, just as Liz dropped something. "My ring!" she whispered. She bent down to retrieve it.  
  
From her car, the image didn't look very good to Tess. "Oh my God! Liz! Get up! Get away from there!" She jumped out of her car.  
  
Max listened to Topolsky. "Sorry to bother you. I'm looking for Maria," she was saying.  
  
"Hey!" said Tess as she came up to the Jeep.  
  
"Tess!" said Max surprised as Liz sat back up.  
  
"Hey, Liz," said Tess calmly.  
  
"Hey, Tess," whispered Liz.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"Nothing," whispered Max.  
  
"Why are you whispering?"  
  
"We're just... waiting for Maria. We're going, uh..." said Max, still whispering.  
  
"Bowling," provided Liz.  
  
"Why are you whispering?" asked Tess again.  
  
At normal tone, although a nervous one, Max repeated, "We're going bowling!"  
  
Tess turned to Liz. "What were you doing down there?"  
  
"Oh, she dropped her ring," explained Max, whispering again.  
  
"Why are you whispering?"  
  
Not too far away, Topolsky was finishing with Hank. "Why don't I give you my number. Could you have Maria call me?"  
  
Back at the Jeep, Tess was still not quite believing it. "Bowling?"  
  
Liz saw that Topolsky was heading back to her car. "Max!" She ducked down, and so did Tess.  
  
"What?" asked Tess.  
  
"Liz!" called Max.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Tess, loud enough for Topolsky to hear, and the woman turned around. The girls were out of her eyesight, but she could Max.  
  
*  
  
Outside the Sheriff's station  
  
Maria looked up to a window with a sort of gate over it. It was time.  
  
*  
  
Outside the Crashdown  
  
Max and Liz walked together. "Maybe when this all blows over, you and I could get lunch or something?" asked Liz shyly.  
  
"Lunch?" asked Max.  
  
"Yeah, if you want."  
  
"So, like in the Caf?"  
  
"Sure," said Liz.  
  
"Okay, great. It's a date... no! It's not a date... it's a lunch."  
  
"Lunch... right," said Liz.  
  
"I better get home," said Max.  
  
"Yeah, me too," said Liz, just as she noticed Alex standing not too far away, waving his arms around. "Good night, Max."  
  
"Good night," said Max as he went into his house.  
  
Alex approached Liz then and said, "Maria's AWOL."  
  
*  
  
Outside the station  
  
Maria climbed a pipe up to the window. She put her hand over the lock to the window grate, which led into the Sheriff's office. When the lock gave way, she nearly fell off but held on. Finally, she slipped into the office.  
  
*  
  
Not too far, in the Jeep  
  
"You know the girl doesn't know how to control her powers," said Alex.  
  
"I know," said Liz. They drove up to find the open grate and realized Maria was already inside.  
  
*  
  
In the office  
  
Maria went through file after file, trying to find the picture of the man with the handprint.  
  
*  
  
In the Jeep  
  
Liz and Alex watched as the Sheriff pulled into the station parking lot and headed for the door. "You get Maria out of there. I'll keep Valenti out of his office as long as I can."  
  
"Right," said Liz as she ran off. Alex sighed and headed to follow the Sheriff.  
  
*  
  
Inside the station  
  
"Forget something?" asked Owen as the Sheriff entered.  
  
"Papers," explained the Sheriff.  
  
"Sheriff?" came a voice from behind. The Sheriff and Deputy turned to find Alex Evans. "I'm... slightly embarrassed to ask this. I have a flat tire, and I'm not as mechanical as I thought I was."  
  
"Sheriff. You're off duty, Sheriff. I'd be happy to help the young man out."  
  
"It's okay deputy. I've got it." He figured he could ask him about Liz.  
  
*  
  
Sheriff's office  
  
Maria kept looking around, then noticed the thermos in the drawer. She shook it and heard a small sound that didn't seem right. She opened the top and saw the key resting there. Just then, Liz came up to the window. "Maria, let's go, now! Valenti's back! Let's go! Maria!"  
  
Maria picked up the key and was hit by an intense vision, so much that she fell back, loud enough that below, the Sheriff, the Deputy, and Alex, all heard it. The men asked Alex to stay there as they headed upstairs to see what was going on. "Let's go, let's go!" called Liz. Maria placed the thermos back, keeping the key and went out on the window ledge. They closed the grate and Liz sealed it.  
  
As the Sheriff opened the blinds in his office, the two girls jumped into a dumpster below, unseen. He checked the grate, and it was closed tight, like it was supposed to.  
  
Below, the girls climbed out of the dumpster. "Told you it was no big deal," said Maria.  
  
*  
  
Outside the station  
  
The Sheriff finished fixing the tire on the Jeep. "There you go. You're all set Mr. Evans."  
  
"Thanks. Thanks a lot," said Alex, trying to hide his nervousness.  
  
"Alex, right?" asked the Sheriff.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You're out past the curfew."  
  
"Well, I had a flat tire."  
  
"Right. Where's Liz tonight?" he asked, trying to make it sound casual.  
  
"Oh. I have no idea. I'm just her brother, not her keeper." And he drove off.  
  
*  
  
Outside Maria's home, the Jeep  
  
Liz, Maria and Alex sat in silence. Liz took the key and concentrated, but no vision came. Alex picked up the key and tried also, quickly followed by a gasp. "What did you see?" asked Maria excitedly.  
  
"Christina Aguilera in the shower," said Alex with an amused face. Maria frowned, took the key, and jumped out. Liz followed her.  
  
"Hey," she said as Maria turned to her. "Sorry about before. Maybe I don't really know what it's like for you."  
  
"The thing I've realized is the fact that my life basically sucks is a good thing. It's easier. We always have to be able to leave, pack a suitcase, go somewhere else. Maybe ten years from now, maybe a week from now, maybe tomorrow. So my advice? Don't get in too deep, Elizabeth. It only makes us weaker."  
  
*  
  
Next day, hallway, WRH  
  
Max walked alone. "Mr. Parker!" he heard from behind. It was Topolsky. He was stuck, so he turned to see her walk up to him. "I have some questions for you about Maria Guerin." Max stayed silent. "Your friend Maria is in serious trouble." Still nothing, so Topolsky sighed and went on. "I'm not a substitute teacher." Max's heart began to beat slightly faster. "I saw you at Maria's house last night. I'm the new guidance counselor," she explained.  
  
Max was a bit relieved but didn't let that show. "Guidance counselor," he said.  
  
"And Maria is a girl who's in serious danger of being expelled from this school. If you're really a friend, you'll talk to her. You'll have her come in and meet with me. Soon. Are you with me Mr. Parker?"  
  
"I'll tell her," said Max calmly.  
  
"Thank you," she said before walking away. Max watched her until he saw Tess staring at him as she walked with some of the other cheerleaders.  
  
*  
  
On Max's balcony, night  
  
He typed in his journal. "Ever since I found out about Liz and Maria and Alex, I've been thinking a lot about secrets. That for everyone who has a secret, there's someone else who needs to know what that secret is. How sometimes secrets keep people from feeling like they belong. And sometimes secrets make you feel like you do belong. And now even me, Max Parker, a simple guy with a simple life... I've got something to hide as well." He finished writing and smiled slightly.  
  
*  
  
Max's words had true meaning at that time in a way he hadn't even realized. How the Sheriff had realized his key was missing... how Maria stood in the shadows observing Liz, Alex and their parents playing basketball... how not too long ago, he and Liz stood in the eraser room... their 'adventure'... had begun...  



End file.
